Galien week of innovation

Dr. Michael Rosenblatt’s career has been in academia, pharma and biotech/venture. He is a physician-scientist, now advising biotech and pharma companies, as well as serving on boards.

Most recently, he was Chief Medical Officer of Flagship Pioneering, a Cambridge, MA-based firm that creates innovative biotech companies (Moderna is an example). Previously he was Merck’s Chief Medical Officer. He also served as Dean of Tufts University School of Medicine, and before that, Robert Ebert Professor of Molecular Medicine and George R. Minot Professor at Harvard Medical School.

He was President of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

He graduated summa cum laude from Columbia, and received his M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard. Internship, residency, and endocrinology training were all at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Susan Desmond-Hellmann is a physician scientist who has spent the past four decades as an innovator and leader in life sciences.

Dr. Desmond-Hellmann most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, stepping down in January 2020 to become Senior Advisor and Board Member of the Gates Medical Research Institute. She joined the Board of Directors of Pfizer April, 2020, and began serving as Senior Advisor Google Ventures in May 2020.

She has served as a Senior Advisor at BDT Capital, LLC, a private investment firm, since October, 2017. Prior to joining The Gates Foundation in May 2014, she was the Chancellor at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) 2009-2014 where she remains an Adjunct Professor.
From 2004 through 2009, Dr. Desmond-Hellmann served as President of Product Development at Genentech, where she was responsible for pre-clinical and clinical development, business development, and product portfolio management. She joined Genentech in 1995.

Prior to joining Genentech, Dr. Desmond-Hellmann was associate director of clinical cancer research at Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Dr. Desmond-Hellmann previously served as a member of the board of directors of Facebook 2013-2019 and The Procter & Gamble Company 2010-2016.
Dr. Desmond-Hellmann holds a B.S. in Pre-Med and an M.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno, and an M.P.H. from the University of California, Berkeley.

She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology

Dr. John Maraganore served as the founding CEO and a Director of Alnylam from 2002 to 2021, where he led the creation of RNAi therapeutics as a whole new class of medicines. Today, five RNAi therapeutic medicines have been approved by global regulatory authorities, bringing new hope to patients around the world.

Prior to Alnylam, John held leadership roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Biogen, Inc. where he invented and led the discovery and development of ANGIOMAX® (bivalirudin) for injection. Previously, he was a scientist at ZymoGenetics, Inc. and the Upjohn Company.  

Dr. Maraganore is currently a partner or advisor of a number of leading investment firms, and is also a Director for a number of publicly traded and privately held biopharmaceutical companies. As the principal of JMM Innovation, LLC, John also serves as a strategic advisor to a number of innovative biotechnology companies, 

Dr. Maraganore is on the Board of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, or “BIO,” where he is Chair Emeritus. Dr. Maraganore received his B.A., M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago.

Sangeeta N. Bhatia MD, PhD is an inventor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and biotech entrepreneur. 

At MIT, she is the John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Engineering, Director of the Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Trained as both a physician and engineer, Sangeeta’s laboratory leverages miniaturization tools from the computer industry for medical innovation with applications in liver disease, cancer and infectious diseases. She and her over 150 trainees have contributed to more than 50 issued or pending patents, launched multiple biotechnology companies to improve human health, and published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers.

Bhatia was the 25th person in history to be an elected member of all three US National Academies: NAS, NAM, and NAE. She has been honored with the Lemelson-MIT Prize (known as the “Oscar” for inventors), the Heinz Medal, and the Othmer Gold Medal for groundbreaking inventions and advocacy for women in STEM fields. She has presented her vision for the application of engineering solutions to solve medical problems on international stages such as the World Economic Forum, TED, the Gates Grand Challenges, and the Biden Cancer Moonshot.

She currently serves as a Trustee at Brown University and Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. 

Adam M. Koppel rejoined Bain Capital in 2016 as Managing Director of Bain Capital Life Sciences. He initially joined Bain Capital Public Equity in 2003 where he worked as a leader within the healthcare sector until 2014. From 2014 to 2016, Dr. Koppel was EVP of Corporate Development and Chief Strategy Officer at Biogen. He sits on the Board of Directors of Aptinyx (NASD: APTX), Areteia Therapeutics, Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, Cerevel Therapeutics (NASD: CERE), Foghorn Therapeutics (NASD: FHTX) and Solid Biosciences (NASD: SLDB).

Dr. Koppel has also previously served on the Board of Directors for Dicerna Pharmaceuticals (NASD: DRNA), Trevena, Inc (NASD: TRVN) and PTC Therapeutics (NASD: PTCT).

Prior to initially joining Bain Capital in 2003, Dr. Koppel was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Co in New Jersey where he served a variety of healthcare companies.

Dr. Koppel sits on the Newton-Wellesley Hospital Board of Trustees, the Boston Museum of Science Board of Trustees, the Partners Healthcare Innovation Advisory Board, and the Society for Neuroscience Investment Committee. In addition, he sits on the Gann Academy Board of Trustees and CJP’s Budget and Administration Committee. He previously sat on the Board of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley MA, from 2014-2017.

Dr. Koppel received an MD and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He also received an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with an AB and AM in History and Science. 

Mike Nally is the Chief Executive Officer of Generate Biomedicines and is a CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering. He has significant experience leading global organizations and is passionate about working with teams and partners to bring innovations to patients.

Since joining Generate Biomedicines in 2021, Mike led the company’s $370 million Series B financing to advance its pioneering generative biology platform and secured its first research collaboration with Amgen, which includes discovering and creating protein therapeutics for five clinical targets across several therapeutic areas and multiple modalities. Amgen is paying $50 million in upfront funding for the initial five programs with a potential transaction value of $1.9 billion, plus future royalties, and will have the option to nominate up to five additional programs at additional cost.

Before Generate, Mike spent several years at Merck & Co. Most recently, he served as Chief Marketing Officer, responsible for Global Marketing and Brand Strategy across a vast portfolio of innovative medicines and vaccines, exceeding $40 billion in revenue. Previously, Mike served as President of Global Vaccines and ran the company's businesses in Sweden and the UK.

Mike currently serves on the Board of Directors of Flagship’s Harbinger Health and PPG Industries, where he is a member of the PPG Audit and Technology and Environment Committees.

Mike holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a degree in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Economics from Middlebury College.

Daphne Zohar is the founder and chief executive officer of PureTech and a member of the board of directors. She has also served as the founding chief executive officer of a number of PureTech's Founded Entities.

A successful entrepreneur, Ms. Zohar created PureTech, assembling a leading team to help implement her vision for the Company, and was a key participant in fundraising, business development and establishing the underlying programs and platforms that have resulted in PureTech’s substantial pipeline, which is comprised of 27 therapeutics and therapeutic candidates being advanced via the Company’s Wholly Owned Pipeline and Founded Entities, including two (Plenity® and EndeavorRx®) that have received both U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance and European marketing authorization and a third (KarXT) that will soon be filed for FDA approval.

She is also a co-founder of the Biotech Hangout podcast, a weekly discussion of biotech news with a group of industry leaders and experts.

Ms. Zohar has been recognized as a top leader and innovator in biotechnology by a number of sources, including EY, Fierce Pharma, BioWorld, MIT Technology Review, The Boston Globe and Scientific American. She also serves on the BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization) Board.

Jeffrey Shaman is Professor and Interim Dean of the Columbia University Climate School and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. 

He studies the survival, transmission and ecology of infectious agents, including the effects of meteorological and hydrological conditions on these processes, and uses mathematical and statistical models to describe, understand, and forecast the transmission dynamics of these disease systems and to investigate the broader effects of climate and weather on human health.

During the pandemic, he led numerous studies of SARS-CoV-2, including estimation of undocumented infections, exploration of the likelihood of reinfection, and quantification of the overall burden of COVID-19. The real-time projections of COVID-19 outcomes developed by his team were used by the White House Task Force, CDC, hospital systems, state and municipal public health agencies, and local governments to support public health decision making and response efforts, as well as Regeneron to support the Phase 3 clinical trial of their monoclonal antibody therapeutic, and Pfizer to support the Phase 3 clinical trial of their mRNA vaccine.

Dr. Shaman holds a BA in biology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA, MPhil, and PhD in climate science from Columbia.

Dr. Gwen Collman, is the Director of the Office of Scientific Coordination, Planning and Evaluation in the Office of the Director at the NIEHS. She provides leadership on the planning and implementation of complex high priority research programs in many areas of environmental health sciences including
public health, population science, and community engagement.

Currently, Dr. Collman is the strategic advisor for coordination of the NIH wide Climate Change and Health Program. Dr. Collman holds a Ph.D. in environmental epidemiology from the Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Collman was the Director of the Division of Extramural Research and Training for 12 years.

She was the founding director of the NIEHS/NCI Breast Cancer and Environment Research, Genes, Environment and Health program and the NIEHS/USEPA Children’s Environmental Health Centers program. She is a member of the NIEHS executive leadership team.

Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, leads Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health R&D, advancing discovery, development, and technology capabilities in collaboration with internal and external partners. Ruxandra’ s deep knowledge of R&D is matched by an equally deep commitment to improving health for everyone, everywhere. Her passion for improving health equity has propelled novel approaches to entrenched, expanding, and emerging health threats. 

Under her leadership, GPH R&D adds value and generates new external innovation opportunities through our J&J Centers for Global Health Discovery and other external partnerships. 

Ruxandra is a cross-sector leader with experience in industry, government, and academia. Formerly, she led Medical and Scientific Affairs for vaccines at Merck, and she worked for the European Commission, first as Director and later as Deputy Director General. At the Commission, Ruxandra oversaw research and innovation programmatic initiatives, led public-private partnerships, global programs and consortia, and designed novel research financial instruments, while contributing to the Commission’s strategy for improving public health. Ruxandra has a track record of unlocking innovation in biotechnology as both a founder and head of research at ADViSYS, Inc. and VGX Pharmaceuticals (now Inovio Pharmaceuticals) and helping shepherd cross-industry innovation as the Co-Chair of the Therapeutics Clinical Working Group of Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV). 

Ruxandra holds a M.D. from Carol Davila University, Romania, and a Ph.D. in human genetics from the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences. She undertook doctoral training at University Rene Descartes in Paris, France and a postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, with a focus on rare diseases, molecular biology, gene therapy and novel vaccines. Ruxandra was honored to be recognized in 2022 as one of the top Women in Biopharma, engaged in drug discovery and development worldwide. Ruxandra has authored and co-authored more than 100 papers and holds over 100 patents. 

Jessica Fanzo, PhD., is a Professor of Climate and the Director of the Food for Humanity Initiative at Columbia University’s Climate School in New York City.

She also serves as the Interim Director for the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, also known as IRI.

Prior to coming to Columbia, she held positions at Johns Hopkins University, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN), the UN World Food Programme, Bioversity International, the Earth Institute, the Millennium Development Goal Centre at the World Agroforestry Center in Kenya, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

She has participated in various collective endeavors, including the Food Systems Economic Commission, the Global Panel of Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition Foresight 2.0 report, the Lancet Commission on Anaemia, and the EAT-Lancet Commissions 1 and now 2. She was also the Co-Chair of the Global Nutrition Report and Team Leader for the UN High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Systems and Nutrition.

She currently leads the development of the Food Systems Dashboard and the Food Systems Countdown to 2030 Initiative in collaboration with the Global Alliance of Improved Nutrition.

Andy Haines was formerly a family doctor and Professor of Primary Health Care at UCL. He developed an interest in climate change and health in the 1990’s and was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the 2 nd and 3 rd assessment exercises and review editor for the health chapter in the 5 th assessment. He was Director (formerly Dean) of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine from 2001- October 2010.

He chaired the Scientific Advisory Panel for the 2013 WHO World Health Report, the Rockefeller /Lancet Commission on Planetary Health (2014-15), the European Academies Science Advisory Council working group on climate change and health (2018-19) and co-chaired the InterAcademy Partnership (140 science academies worldwide) working group on climate change and health. He is a member of the NAM Climate Grand Challenge Steering Committee and co-chairs the NAM Roadmap for Systems Transformation working group and the Lancet Pathfinder Commission on health in the zero-carbon economy.

Dr. Haines earned his MBBS in medicine and M.D. in epidemiology from the University of London. He is a Foreign Associate Member of the National Academy of Medicine. He has published many papers on topics such as the effects of environmental change on health and the health co-benefits of low carbon policies. He was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2022.

Joel S. Marcus, JD, CPA, is Executive Chairman and Founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), a REIT that pioneered life science real estate and transformed it from a specialty niche to a mainstream asset class.

Alexandria is the preeminent, largest, and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation clusters.

Since co-founding Alexandria in 1994 as a garage startup with $19 million in Series A capital and a mission to advance human health, he has led its remarkable growth into an S&P 500 company that as of June 30, 2023 has a total market capitalization of $30.6 billion.

Alexandria, which celebrated its 25th anniversary on the NYSE in May 2022, has a total stockholder return exceeding 1,300% as of June 30, 2023.

In 1996, Mr. Marcus founded Alexandria Venture Investments, the company’s strategic venture capital platform, and he continues to lead its investments in disruptive life science, agrifoodtech, and technology companies. He also leads Alexandria’s social responsibility initiatives, which aim to address some of society’s most urgent challenges, including mental illness and opioid addiction.

To reverse the trajectory of the opioid epidemic, Alexandria partnered with Verily, an Alphabet company, to pioneer OneFifteen, an innovative, non-profit data-driven healthcare ecosystem providing a full continuum of care to help people live healthy, addiction-free lives. Mr. Marcus currently serves on the boards of several public biotechnology companies and non-profits, including the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Emily Krzyzewski Center, National Medal of Honor Museum, and Navy SEAL Foundation.
He received his BA and JD from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Lynne Zydowsky is a seasoned life science industry executive with more than 20 years of experience in corporate development, operations and finance roles. She helped launch and build several successful companies. In 2003, she founded Zydowsky Consultants, a life science consulting practice. Prior to that, she was Co-Founder and COO of Renovis (now Evotec) and served as VP of Pharmaceutical Business Development at Exelixis.

A longstanding advocate for biomedical research and the advancement of global health, Dr. Zydowsky co-founded the Alexandria Summit in 2011 as a neutral, interactive platform to convene visionary stakeholders to drive the discovery and development of novel, cost-effective therapies, shape policy to advance life-saving innovation and address the urgent need to transform the healthcare system.

She earned her PhD in Chemistry from The Ohio State University, was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and has a BS in Pharmacy from Butler University.

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A Colonel in the National Guard, combat-decorated Green Beret, former White House and Pentagon policy advisor, and small business owner, Congressman Mike Waltz represents North Central Florida.

Congressman Waltz has served his country his entire life, graduating from the Virginia Military Institute, serving over 26 years in the U.S. Army and now serving in Congress. As an Army veteran and National Guardsman, he knows how to accomplish a mission for his country. He is the first Green Beret elected to Congress and actively promotes veterans to serve in public office.

His commitment in Washington, DC is the same now as it was in combat: to serve with everything he has, without regard for his own self and with a sense of duty. He is determined to be part of the new generation of leadership in Congress: servant leaders who lead by example with their values and deliver results.

Dr. Michael Rosenblatt’s career has been in academia, pharma and biotech/venture. He is a physician-scientist, now advising biotech and pharma companies, as well as serving on boards.

Most recently, he was Chief Medical Officer of Flagship Pioneering, a Cambridge, MA-based firm that creates innovative biotech companies (Moderna is an example). Previously he was Merck’s Chief Medical Officer. He also served as Dean of Tufts University School of Medicine, and before that, Robert Ebert Professor of Molecular Medicine and George R. Minot Professor at Harvard Medical School.

He was President of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

He graduated summa cum laude from Columbia, and received his M.D. magna cum laude from Harvard. Internship, residency, and endocrinology training were all at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Alex began his Johnson & Johnson career with Janssen Pharmaceutica in 1988, advancing through positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, and management until, in 2012, he became the seventh leader to serve in the dual role of Chairman and CEO. He became Executive Chairman at the end of 2021, which he held until his retirement in January 2023. 

Under Alex’s leadership, Johnson & Johnson became an industry stalwart. As part of the company’s commitment to serving more than a billion people each day, Alex oversaw significant breakthroughs in public health, including the deployment of an Ebola vaccine and the development of the Janssen single-shot COVID-19 vaccine in just 13 months. He promoted a more diverse and inclusive culture at Johnson & Johnson, serving as the driving force behind the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including a $100 million pledge to fight health inequities faced by communities of color in the United States. 

Through his work as a member of the Business Roundtable and the Business Council Executive Committees, Alex’s influence has shaped both the healthcare landscape and the greater business community. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Apple, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, and the Travis Manion Foundation, and serves on the Wharton School Board of Advisors at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Alex completed his undergraduate education at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and earned his MBA from Wharton in 1996. 

Poussot joined Wyeth in 1986 as general manager of Wyeth France. He became head of Wyeth Europe in 1991, president of Wyeth-Ayerst International in 1996, and, a year later, president of Wyeth Global Pharmaceuticals. In 2006, Poussot was elected president, and, in 2007, was appointed chief operating officer and elected to the Wyeth Board of Directors. In 2008, he was elected chairman of the Board, chief executive officer and president. 

Bernard Poussot vision and commitment to scientific innovation enabled Wyeth to build a diversified biopharmaceutical company with leadership in attractive growth areas such as vaccines (Prevnar), biologics (Enbrel).Wyeth was early to see the potential of biotechnology to create life-changing medicines and had the number one biotechnology product in the world, Enbrel at the time of its acquisition by Pfizer.in 2009.

Poussot graduated from ESCP Business School in Paris. 

Currently, Bernard Poussot serves as  a member of the Board of Directors of Roche Holding, Cargill Inc. and the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience. He is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. 
Bernard Poussot received the Legion d’Honneur from the French President
Nine years ago Bernard Poussot, and Bruno Cohen founded a new Galien USA Awards category to distinguish the best startups in Healthcare. To that effect Bernard assembled a jury whose members need no introduction owing to their impact on shaping our industry, the many star products coming out of their companies, their amazing collective experience & passion for Healthcare.

In 2020, Bernard Poussot, has been jury chair for the novel Digital Health Awards category. And in 2022, our mission of picking and valuing early innovation has been expanded to a Novel Award: The Prix Galien USA – Incubation/Accelerator Awards, This award illustrates the rapid evolution of our industry and the need to embrace new innovation and collaboration models.

Mikael leads the Worldwide Research, Development and Medical (WRDM) organization at Pfizer, which is responsible for the development of all compounds through proof of concept, and provides pharmaceutical sciences, safety and medical support to the entire R&D pipeline and all marketed medicines and vaccines. WRDM comprises all Pfizer research units, including Oncology, Internal Medicine, Inflammation & Immunology, Vaccines and Rare Disease, as well as the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation. The Vaccines R&D team leads scientific efforts from discovery through registration of novel vaccines. Mikael also has worldwide responsibility for Pfizer’s medical, safety and external R&D innovation, as well as science-based teams in pharmaceutical sciences, drug safety R&D, and large and small molecule discovery and development. 

Mikael earned his Ph.D. in tumor immunology and M.D. from the University of Lund in Sweden, where he was Adjunct Professor in Tumor Immunology and is a Visiting Professor to advise on science and technology strategies. He serves on the PhRMA Research & Development Leadership Forum as well as on the PhRMA Foundation Board of Directors. He is a member of the board of Agilent Technologies, Research! America, and Vimian. Mikael is a member of the Board of Overseers for the Scripps Research Institute and a Foreign Member of The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Since 2014, Mikael had co-chaired the Accelerating Medicine Partnership with National Institutes of Health (NIH) previous Director, Francis S. Collins, and now with Acting Director, Lawrence Tabak. Mikael advised the Obama Administration on R&D as well as then Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative to accelerate cancer research. 

Mikael is a named inventor on several patents and has published approximately 150 articles in international journals.

Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Stephen was Professor of Diabetes and Head of the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism (OCDEM).

His research interests resided in the fields of the genetics of autoimmune disease, glucose homeostasis, and incretin biology in pancreas whole organ and islet transplantation. 

Since joining Novo Nordisk, he has provided senior medical opinion in diabetes, obesity and RareD and now leads Global Medical Affairs. Aside from responsibilities at Novo Nordisk, Dr Gough served on the BoD of the World Diabetes Foundation from 2020-2022.

Lee M. Kaplan, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Section on Obesity Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Director of the Dartmouth Obesity Care Center, and Director of the Boston Course in Obesity Medicine. He was previously the founding director of the MGH Weight Center and the Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)
and Harvard Medical School (HMS).

Dr. Kaplan has served in numerous advisory and leadership roles, including as the chair of the U.S. Obesity Medicine Fellowship Council, recent member of the NIDDK Advisory Council of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and the 2019-2020 president of The Obesity Society. He has received several
awards for his research, clinical and educational activities, most recently the 2023 Thomas A. Wadden Award for Distinguished Mentorship from The Obesity Society.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and his PhD degree in molecular biology and MD degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in gastroenterology and hepatology at MGH and a post- doctoral fellowship in genetics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Kaplan’s research has focused on the role of the gastrointestinal tract in the regulation of appetite, energy balance and metabolic function, the mechanisms of action of bariatric and metabolic surgery and the genetic determinants of response to obesity treatment. He is the author of more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific and medical publications.

Joe Nadglowski is President & CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) – a nonprofit organization formed in 2005 dedicated to elevating and empowering individuals affected by obesity through education, advocacy and support. 

A frequent speaker and author, Mr. Nadglowski is especially passionate about access to obesity treatments, tackling weight bias and sharing his own experiences with obesity.

He has more than 30 years of experience working in patient advocacy, public policy and education and is a graduate of the University of Florida.

Dan Skovronsky is the chief scientific and medical officer of Eli Lilly and Company. He serves as executive vice president of science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. He also has responsibility for global business development.

Dan joined Lilly in 2010 when the company acquired Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., where he had been CEO since founding the company in 2004. At Lilly, Dan has held various roles, including vice president, tailored therapeutics; vice president, diabetes research; and senior vice president, clinical and product development.

Dan completed his residency training in pathology and fellowship training in neuropathology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He received his M.D. from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, in 2001 and his Ph.D. in neuroscience from University of Pennsylvania in 2000. Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1994.

Senior Vice President and Global Head of CardioMetabolic Disease Research at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG. The German and US based organization conducts research in Cardio-Renal-Metabolic diseases and one of the focus areas is Obesity.

Before joining Boehringer Ingelheim in 2019 Dr. Tullin was Corporate Vice President and member of research management at Novo Nordisk A/S. The scientific focus of Dr. Tullin’s career is and has been Cardio-Renal-Metabolic diseases such as Obesity, Diabetes and Non-Alcoholic SteatoHepatitis.

Jim Collins is the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT, as well as a Member of the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences & Technology Faculty.

He is also a Core Founding Faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, and an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. He is one of the founders of the field of synthetic biology, and his research group is currently focused on using synthetic biology to create next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics. Professor Collins' patented technologies have been licensed by over 25 biotech, pharma and medical devices companies, and he is the scientific co-founder of Synlogic, Senti Biosciences, Sherlock Biosciences and Cellarity, as well as Phare Bio, a non-profit focused on AI-driven antibiotic discovery. He has received numerous awards and honors, including a MacArthur "Genius" Award and the Dickson Prize in Medicine, and he is an elected member of all three national academies - the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine.

Regina Barzilay is a School of Engineering Distinguished Professor of AI & Health in the Department of Computer Science and the AI Faculty Lead at MIT Jameel Clinic.

Her research interests lie in building machine learning models for clinical AI and molecular modeling in drug discovery.

She also works in natural language processing. Her work has been recognized with the MacArthur Fellowship, an NSF Career Award, and the AAAI Squirrel AI Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity.

Eric Horvitz serves as Microsoft’s Chief Scientific Officer. He spearheads company-wide initiatives, navigating opportunities and challenges at the confluence of scientific frontiers, technology, and society, including strategic efforts in AI.  He is known for his contributions to AI theory and practice, with a focus on principles and applications of AI amidst the complexities of the open world. 

He received the Feigenbaum Prize and the Allen Newell Prize for his fundamental contributions to the science and practice of AI. He received the CHI Academy honor for his work at the intersection of AI and human-computer interaction. He has been elected fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, the Association of Computing Machinery, Association for the Advancement of AI (AAAI), the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American College of Medical Informatics, and the American Philosophical Society.

He serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and advisory boards of the OECD, Allen Institute for AI, and Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI). He served as president of the AAAI, and on advisory committees for the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. 

Dr. Horvitz received MD and PhD degrees at Stanford University.

Ariel Katz is the CEO and Co-founder of H1, the connecting force for global HCP, clinical trial, scientific and research information. 

Listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 list, Ariel aids the top Pharma and BioTech companies along their journey to use AI-powered insights to advance Medical Excellence and Drug Development. H1 accelerates the discovery and engagement of industry experts, drives equitable research, facilitates access to groundbreaking science, and helps get life saving treatments to patients faster. Ariel and team work directly with clients to help them apply healthcare data to solving vexing issues such as which treatments are the most promising, and which experts influence a particular market.

Ariel started his first company in college, ResearchConnection, to help connect students with research opportunities. That company grew to over 40 universities and was eventually acquired by the Jefferson Accelerator Fund, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ewing Kauffman Foundation.  

Stephen Quake is Head of Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, overseeing CZI’s science grant programs, technology development, and the CZ Biohub Network. His contributions to science are varied and include invention of the biological equivalent of the integrated circuit, development of whole organism cell atlases, and creation of diagnostics that have made medicine safer by replacing invasive biopsies such as amniocentesis with simple blood tests.

Steve has received numerous awards for his discoveries and has been elected to several scientific honorary societies, including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors.

He has published more than 300 papers, which have been cumulatively cited more than 100,000 times.

Steve also holds a faculty position at Stanford University, where he is the Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics. Previously he was the founding co-president of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (2016-2022), investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2006-2016), and professor at the California Institute of Technology (1996-2005).

Lieven is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and a core leader of its global Life Sciences practice. He leads the firm’s work in helping clients build Research & Development (R&D) capabilities needed to drive innovation and improve productivity and performance. He also plays leadership roles in the firm’s Cell & Gene Therapy and Digital & Analytics teams.

A physician and neuroscientist by training, Lieven advises executive teams across biotech / life sciences and public health across the world on their most significant challenges. 

Most recently, he has built McKinsey’s scientific analytics teams that uses the most advanced analytical methods across research and development and helps its clients achieve real and differentiating impact.

Before joining McKinsey, Lieven qualified as a doctor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and took an MSc and an MPhil in neuroscience at the University of Columbia.

Petra Jantzer leads Accenture’s Life Sciences Business globally and is the Account CEO for Novartis. Previously she led Accenture Life Sciences Europe, R&D Europe, and Life Sciences DACH. Before joining Accenture, Petra was a senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where she led the R&D practice globally and the Pharmaceuticals & Health practice in Switzerland. Petra is also serving on the Boards of Directors for both Accenture AG Switzerland and Accenture Services Switzerland.

Petra’s professional roots are in basic science, she holds a PhD in Tumor-immunology and a master’s degree in molecular biology. Petra’s mission is to support global Life Science Leaders in bringing innovative medicines to patients and ultimately achieve better health outcomes.

Dr. Jantzer has more than 25 years’ experience in the bio-pharmaceuticals sector, both as an advisor and as a researcher. She has profound industry and R&D knowledge, deep business process understanding, and two decades of C-level counseling experience to help clients (digitally) transform their businesses.

Petra believes that diversity is critical to the success of companies, economies, and societies.  This belief motivated her to co-found "Advance - gender equality in Swiss business", a cross-industry association of 150+ mostly blue-chip company members in Switzerland with a joint mission to increase the share of women in senior leadership positions in the Swiss economy. She has been on the board of Advance since its inauguration and is currently serving as the President of the Board. She is honored to represent Switzerland in the G20 EMPOWER initiative to drive gender-equality globally.

Petra is a passionate people developer and firmly believes that leaders need to nurture the next generation to be better than the one before it. During her career, she has been a role model for gender equality in the workplace and beyond and is viewed as a strong force in fostering talent - both male and female.

As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Albert Bourla leads Pfizer in its purpose, Breakthroughs that change patients’ lives, with a focus on driving the scientific and commercial innovation needed to have a transformational impact on human health. 
During his more than 30 years at Pfizer, Albert has built a diverse and successful career, holding several senior positions across a range of markets and disciplines. The global nature of his work – having lived and worked in nine different cities and led teams across five continents – has informed his understanding of the needs of patients and healthcare systems around the world and deepened his commitment to helping ensure equitable access to medicines and vaccines.
When he took the reins as CEO in January 2019, Albert accelerated Pfizer’s transformation to become a more science-driven, innovative company – divesting its non-science-based businesses and dramatically increasing its R&D and digital innovation budgets. To create a culture in which the company’s people and science could thrive, Albert and his leadership team established Pfizer’s Purpose Blueprint, which included four core values: courage, excellence, equity and joy. 
A powerful example of Pfizer’s capabilities and culture was seen in the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Refusing to accept public funding and instead investing more than $2 billion dollars at-risk, Albert inspired colleagues to deliver a safe and effective vaccine in just eight months – a process that typically take 8-10 years – without compromising quality or integrity. A year later, continuing to move at the speed of science, Pfizer delivered the first FDA-authorized oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 by implementing the same sense of urgency and new ways of working that had made the vaccine program so successful. The company is now applying many of these “lightspeed” principles to projects across a wide range of therapeutic areas, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory conditions and more. Albert wrote about the company’s experience developing a COVID-19 vaccine in his book, “Moonshot: Inside Pfizer's Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible,” which was a Bronze Medalist in the 2023 Axiom Awards and a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Awards. The book also appeared on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller list for four weeks and was selected by the Next Big Idea Book Club.
Under Albert’s leadership, Pfizer also has further strengthened its commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles. This includes issuing the biopharmaceutical industry’s first Sustainability Bond addressing capital investments in both environmental and social initiatives; launching the company’s first ESG report; and completing an extensive priority issue assessment to confirm where and how Pfizer can have the greatest long-term impact.
Albert is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and holds a Ph.D. in the Biotechnology of Reproduction from the Veterinary School of Aristotle University. He has received honorary doctorates from the American College of Greece, the University of Patras, Touro University, The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, and Aristotle University, as well as an honorary degree from Babson College.
In 2022, Albert received the Golden Cross Order of the Redeemer, conferred by the President of Greece; the Order of Boyacá, conferred by the President of Colombia; and the Order of the Independence from the First Degree, conferred by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan. In the same year, he was named the 2022 Genesis Prize Laureate in recognition of his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and received the Courage Against Hate Award from the Anti-Defamation League. He also received the 2022 Eisenhower Global Citizenship Award from the Business Council for International Understanding, the Distinguished Leadership Award and the Peter G. Peterson Business Statesmanship Award from theCommittee for Economic Development, the Gold Medal from Americas Society, the Bower Award in Business Leadership from The Franklin Institute, the Double Helix Award from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Humanitarian Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the Manufacturer of the Year from the National Association of Manufacturers’ Leadership Council.
In 2021, he was named CEO of the Year by CNN Business, included in Insider Magazine’s Most Transformative CEOs list and inducted into the Crain’s New York Business 2021 Hall of Fame. That same year, he received the Appeal of Conscience Award in recognition of his extraordinary leadership in service of the global community and The Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Business Leadership Award for his and Pfizer’s work on the COVID-19 vaccine. He also was recognized with the Roy Vagelos Award from the Prix Galien Foundation, the Academy of Achievement Award in Science from AHEPA, the Golden Medal of Institution from Hellenic Open University, the David Rockefeller Award from the Museum of Modern Art, the Theodor Herzl Award from the World Jewish Congress, the Sparkle of Hope Award from Community Hope, and the Father of the Year Award from the National Father’s Day Council. In 2020, he received the Meridian Global Leadership Award.
Albert is chairman of The Pfizer Foundation and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for the Partnership for New York City. He is President of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations, a director on multiple boards—Pfizer Inc., PhRMA and Catalyst—and a trustee of the United States Council for International Business. In addition, Albert is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Business Roundtable, the Business Council and the New York City Mayor’s Corporate Council.

Michael Dowling is one of health care’s most influential voices, taking a stand on societal issues such as gun violence and immigration that many health system CEOs shy away from. As president and CEO of Northwell Health, he leads a clinical, academic and research enterprise with a workforce of more than 85,000 and an annual operating budget of $16.5 billion.

Mr. Dowling has been honored with many awards over the years. In 2020, he received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad, which recognizes individuals for their contributions to Ireland and to Irish communities abroad, presented by the President of Ireland. He also received an honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and is a board member of the Foreign Policy Association.

In addition, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and a number of honorary degrees from Fordham University, University College Dublin (Ireland) and the prestigious Queen’s University Belfast.

In 2020, Mr. Dowling received the Deming Cup from the Columbia Business School and has been ranked No. 1 on Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2022. In 2017, he served as the Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC. He also chairs the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

Prior to joining Northwell in 1995, Mr. Dowling served in New York State government for 12 years. He held several leadership roles, including director of health, education and human services; commissioner of social services and deputy secretary and chief adviser to former Governor Mario Cuomo. Mr. Dowling was previously a professor of social policy and an assistant dean of Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Services.

David Epstein is CEO of Seagen, a company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and commercializes targeted cancer therapeutics with antibody-drug conjugates at its core. During David’s tenure at Seagen, its portfolio of innovative cancer medicines has grown significantly, and he prioritized its research and development focus and plans for continued growth, including an expanded presence globally. These strategies were exponentially accelerated by the pending merger of Seagen with Pfizer, a negotiation David led in partnership with Seagen’s board of directors, and which is expected to close late in 2023 or early in 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of required regulatory approvals. David is also a board member at Valo Health, a company using technology to reimagine drug discovery and development, and Opy Acquisition Corp, a life sciences investment company. Throughout his career, David has focused his deep biopharmaceutical experience and expertise to bring urgency to improve and extend the lives of patients.

From early-2010 to mid-2016, David served as chief executive officer of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, a division of Novartis AG. Previously, David started and led Novartis’ Oncology and Molecular Diagnostic units. Under his leadership the company’s oncology business grew to the second largest in the world.

David’s experience also extends to early-stage discovery and innovation. He served as a consultant to Flagship Pioneering, a developer of bioplatform companies, Invus and several other firms. He has served as Chairman at Rubius Therapeutics, Axcella Therapeutics, Evelo Bio and as a board member at Ring Therapeutics, Tarus Therapeutics until its successful sale in June 2022, Senti Bio, Woosley Pharma and Cellestia AG.

David has more than 30 years of extensive drug development, deal making, commercialization and leadership experience on a global scale. Over the course of his career, he led the development and commercialization of over 30 new molecular entities, including major breakthroughs such as Glivec, Tasigna, Gilenya, Afinitor, Cosentyx and Entresto. His teams developed 3 Prix Galien award winning medicines and he has developed several CEOs. He was also recognized by FierceBiotech as one of the “25 most influential people in biopharma.”

David is also a director at the non-profit he and his wife Melissa established, the Three Opinions Foundation, dedicated to improving the world with a focus on the environment and health, and at South Florida’s Pelican Harbor Seabird Station (PHSS). PHSS is Miami’s premier native wildlife hospital dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of sick, injured, or orphaned brown pelicans, seabirds, and other native wildlife thus enabling future generations.

Dave Ricks is chair and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company. A Lilly veteran for more than 25 years, with experience in marketing, sales, drug development and international operations, Dave became CEO in January 2017 and was elected chair of the company’s board of directors effective June 2017.

A global biopharmaceutical leader, Lilly has been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years -- and today the company’s medicines help more than 51 million people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, Lilly scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges – including diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and debilitating autoimmune diseases. Under Dave’s leadership, Lilly has delivered record R&D output and business results, positioning the company for strong growth and expanded impact on human health around the world.

Dave joined Lilly in 1996 as a business development associate and held several management roles in U.S. marketing and sales before moving into international leadership positions. He led Lilly’s operations as general manager in Canada and China – one of the world’s fastest-growing emerging markets – and then returned as president of Lilly USA, the company’s largest affiliate. In 2012, Dave was promoted to president of Lilly Bio-Medicines, then the company’s largest business unit, overseeing drug development and commercial operations in neuroscience, pain and immunology.

Dave earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University in 1990 and a Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana University in 1996. Recently, Dave was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Pharmaceutical Management from Purdue.

Dave serves on the board of directors for Adobe and Business Roundtable. In addition, he is a member of the board and former board chair of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Dave is a member of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Association’s CEO Steering Committee, The Business Council and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Council for Inclusive Innovation.

Closer to home, Dave is heavily engaged in the development and well-being of Central Indiana and serves on the executive committee and board of Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.